(E)D-Day

It’s the day that many Staples seniors have been marking off their calendars since they pressed submit on their applications. The day that anyone wanting a quick answer on where they are going to college or wanting to get into the college of their choice is excited about and dreading all at the same time. The day that will be filled with loud and joyous cries of triumph and even louder and tragic cries of sorrow, depending on the decision.

The day is December 15-(E)D Day.

You can consider me one of those aforementioned seniors. Or at least you could have. When I first visited my top choice school and decided it was the school for me, I decided I only wanted to go there, and I wondered how much any of the other schools mattered. This got me thinking of a few other important questions:

How nervous was I about the decision coming out? Was I depending on my admittance to my top choice school towards me being happy? Would I really be happy if I was rejected and went to a second choice school?

Just days away from decision day, I may have finally decided on a permanent position on these questions.

On the one hand, I feel that my top choice school is the school for me, and I knew after walking off the campus for the first time that it was definitely one of the best schools I had visited. If I were to get in there, I would obviously be happy. Not much more needs to be said about that.

That used to be the only answer I had. But soon, my views on the college process-and early decision changed.

I learned, for example, that being rejected from a first-choice school may not be the end of the world. Over Thanksgiving, for example, at least three people told me they were rejected from their first-choice schools, but that the schools they ended up going to were even better than they could have imagined those top schools being.

I looked even deeper than before into some of the programs that the other schools had as well as what the student body was like, and realized that I could still get a good education and have fun at those schools.

I guess over time I’ve adjusted my attitude. In the past, I felt that I absolutely had to get into my top choice school if I wanted to have a good education, have fun, and be happy. But soon, I went deeper into the other schools and heard other stories and realized it may not be so horrible if I don’t get in.

At this point, I feel like my top choice school’s decision about me could literally go either way. If I get in, I’ll of course be extremely happy that I got into the school of my choice. If I’m rejected, I can find solace in the fact that there are other schools out there that I know for a fact I can still have a great college experience at, and that the decision is not life or death.

So am I nervous?

Seven months ago, the answer was yes. With days left, I can happily say the answer is “not anymore.”